


102 Sweet Dreams

by LaserquestLove



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Alcohol, Angsty Cartinelli, Dreams and Nightmares, F/F, Secret Relationship, Suggestive Themes, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-05-06
Packaged: 2018-03-22 00:29:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3708547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaserquestLove/pseuds/LaserquestLove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You know how when you wake up, you really have to think about a dream to remember it? But if you wake up from a nightmare, you just can’t seem to shake those images out of your head?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first multi-chapter fic I've ever attempted, and I think the idea's cute. There will be some more characters and things will get a little intense, so I hope you enjoy. As always, thanks for reading!

Bliss was on her fingertips and scorching all around her. It felt so realistic this time; Peggy almost didn’t acknowledge that she knew none of this was real. She couldn’t remember exactly how he got here this time. Usually there’s an intricate plot that she creates that almost serves to trick herself into believing that this made sense. Lately however, she’s been skipping that part. She’s had less time unconscious and therefore had to skip straight to the point.

She smiled against his lips and pulled away, leaving a breathless second between them before expecting this dream to fade into oblivion. She was satisfied. She could wake up in a cold dark house and lay around wishing this hadn’t just been a scenario in her head. Wishing Captain America hadn’t gone down with his ship.

But something was wrong. Peggy didn’t wake up immediately and she realized the presence she had been kissing was not who she thought it to be. She opened her eyes and a moment of shock set in.

“Alright there, English?” Angie asked quietly, their faces intimately close.

“This is a dream.” Peggy stated calmly, reminding herself to not panic.

“Are you tryin’ to butter me up?” Angie chuckled.

The other girl’s laugh vibrated across Peggy’s chest and she sighed at just how easy it was to enjoy this. She fumbled slightly, grasping her surroundings. They were on a bed. She had just switched scenes. She was kissing Steve and now she was hanging out with Angie. That’s all. A wave of relief washed through here and she relaxed against the headboard.

Then the dream started to slip out of her control. They were kissing now. Angie and Peggy. She didn’t want to stop. Peggy kissed her back and her hands were holding her face in an instant. Peggy arched against the grip that Angie had on her and when they broke away Angie told her something important. Something about not wanting to let go. It was a subtle shift to Angie kissing her neck.

Suddenly, it all ceased to exist and the room was silent and dim now. Angie was next to her and sleeping peacefully. Peggy was awake for real now. Carefully shaking her head free of sleepiness and doubt, Peggy started to observe her setting. Angie was still in her uniform and Peggy was far over-dressed for sleeping.

It was then that she recalled the events of the night before. Angie had come home from work very put out and Peggy was not one to stand for a friend being sad. They spent the evening listening to records and laughing until they fell onto the bed and started to just talk. And they talked until their voices started to hurt and their throats were drying out. They contemplated the future and more importantly: their dreams. Oddly enough they both shared the dream of being more respected in their workplace. (As different as those may be) They must have fallen asleep talking about said dreams.

This was the first of many times they talked about dreams.

They don’t yet understand that some dreams turn into nightmares.

Angie moved slightly. The light filtering in through the window fell on her hair in just a way that it looked as though it was glowing. Peggy shook the thought out of her head hastily. It felt weird to think about how Angie looked after a dream liked that. Peggy slowed her breathing so Angie would think she was still asleep.

“I had a really weird dream.” Angie stated sleepily.

“How did you know I was awake?” Peggy turned her head to face her friend.

“I just figured since you’re always awake before me and all.” Angie smiled.

She started to stretch out and make those cute little squeaks that come while stretching. Peggy adverted her eyes. Why did she feel so strange? Was it the dream haunting her? Was it something else about Angie? Peggy is the queen of letting things go, this really shouldn’t be an issue.

“Did you sleep well?” Angie asked.

“Wonderfully everything considered.” Peggy made no attempt to look at Angie, but continued to gaze at the ceiling.

“That’s what they all tell me.” Angie joked.

Peggy forced a laugh but couldn’t shake the wild discomfort still sitting on her chest. Angie immediately took notice and sat up as well. She reached out towards Peggy. When her palm made contact with Peggy’s shoulder, the English woman’s muscles went taut against her.

“Geez, what’s gotten into you?” Angie frowned.

“Nothing. I just had a bad dream.” Peggy lied.

Angie shook her head and pulled away. A comfortable silence fitted itself among the sheets between them as they slowly got up. Angie gave Peggy another nod before she headed off to go change in her own room.  
After she was gone, Peggy spent a moment just thinking to herself. Her fingers rushed to the phone on her bedside table, but stopped at the cool feel of the dial against her hand. She hesitated. Calling in sick would most certainly just keep her mind in a tizzy about the dream and that was not what she needed. She slowly pulled away from the phone. Today had to distract her, that was for certain.

* * *

Peggy and Angie shared this one dream that day they would be taken more seriously at work. Down with the patriarchy, right? Well not exactly.

Dreams have strange properties. Everybody has been kept up after a particularly frightening bout with sleep. Peggy has had those nights. So has Angie. However this was the first time Peggy had ever had a dream about Angie that way.

Angie was a different story.

She spiraled around in her disorientation. The diner became a chaotic swarm of orders and suited men who wanted something different or who weren’t satisfied with what they did receive. Her eyes were glued to the clock, every precious second counting down until she could head home.

To see Peggy of course. Peggy was always on her mind and frankly it wasn’t an unpleasant experience. Where her obsession with the woman began she’ll never know. Probably before she even mentioned Peggy moving into the Griffith with her. However it wasn’t until they moved in that Angie’s slight girl crush really took shape.

As she sifted through the plates on the table and stacked them across her arms in the most balanced way possibly, she pondered her history of girl crushes. Angie had always had friends that were girls. Making friends was second nature to her but every now and then she felt really intense urges to get close to some of them. It was a connection that she always kind of kept herself from pursuing because it just seemed odd at them time.

This time was different.

The first time she had a dream like that about Peggy she chalked it up to exhaustion. She had worked a double and the Peggy had walked her back from the diner so chivalrously. Once she was knocked out, barely dressed for bed, she had a whimsical dream that involved a kiss with a Queen Carter.

There were a couple of other times she had interactions with Peggy that were more than platonic in her dreams, but they never went very far until last night’s.

Angie dropped the plates on to the sink where a very short and frustrated Italian man was grumbling about how much time was left. She glanced triumphantly at the clock and grinned in ecstasy when she saw that the minute of reckoning was upon her.

After clocking out, she giddily skipped across the street and on a path towards her home. She wasn’t any more than three blocks on her trip when she bumped into the infamous Peggy Carter, done from work at an awfully early hour.

And it was a literally bump. Peggy was walking out the door and Angie was speeding around the corner. The collision was quick and they toppled onto the ground with Peggy taking the brunt of the fall on her back.

Now in the classic awkwardly intimate situation, Peggy started to sweat. The dream hit her like a bag of bricks and Angie’s whispery and oddly enticing voice flitted through her head with words she said to her in the dream. Angie was laughing above her and that only made the situation worse. Anxiety clenched at Peggy’s throat.

“Come around here often?” Angie played, all smiles and giggles.

“Quite.” Peggy huffed.

Angie wasn’t going to get herself off so Peggy moved her hands against Angie’s sides. This was so uncomfortable for Peggy. For God’s sake it was a stupid dream, get over it. Peggy grabbed the waitress, and rolled her off in as graceful a manner as she could.

“You’re no fun, English!” Angie laughed.

Peggy rolled her eyes and picked herself up off the ground. She offered and hand to Angie who responded by putting her hand on her chest and mouthing “me?” and then taking it in a dramatic manner and letting Peggy yank her off the sidewalk. With a little more banter, they both decided to head straight home together.

“Ready to talk about that dream yet?” Angie poked as they started on their way.

Peggy shook her head; she had just about let go of that blasted dream again.

“No, but I do have good news.” Peggy hummed in an attempt to distract her.

“Spill the beans, Peg.” Angie encouraged.

“It’s classified.”

Angie groaned and rolled her eyes as they continued down the street.

But this was indeed good news for Peggy. It was actually a dream come true. A dream that couldn’t possibly end badly for either of these adorable New Yorkers.

Peggy was going undercover.


	2. Chapter 2

You know how when you wake up, you really have to think about a dream to remember it? But if you wake up from a nightmare, you just can’t seem to shake those images out of your head?

That’s kind of where Angie Martinelli was at right now. Her fingers were curled tightly around handfuls of sweaty sheets and her chest was rising and falling at an alarming rate. She was alone. The room comforted her with a gentle breeze, yet nothing was helping her to relax. Her eyes were locked on the door as if something was beyond it, but she was merely staring at the wooden frame.

Angie gasped when the door opened, but her muscles kept her locked into a rigid sitting position on the bed.

“It’s me.” Peggy’s voice reassured her.

Instantly everything loosened up in Angie. She slumped back against the headboard and let out a shaky breath. Peggy calmly approached the bed. Her arm came out from behind her back and put a gun down on the bedside table.

“Did I scream that loud?” Angie asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Peggy nodded with a frown. She sat down on the bed as carefully as she could and ran her gaze along Angie. She wasn’t hurt, nothing had happened obviously, but Peggy had never heard Angie wake up from a nightmare so violently before. At least not since Howard gave them this mansion.

“Are you okay?” Peggy said softly.

Angie nodded and wiped off her wet cheeks.

After a few more deep breaths Angie spoke, “I had a dream you got shot. You know, doing secret spy stuff.”

“Oh, Angie, darling.” Peggy cooed, “I promise my assignment isn’t anything dangerous, you don’t have to worry.”

Angie leaned forward a bit, “Can I hug you?”

Peggy laughed, “Of course.”

Angie scooted forward and wrapped her arms around Peggy. Somehow, Peggy had managed to forget that Angie was quite an intense hugger and had the air squeezed right out of her lungs. She returned the embrace with soft circles on Angie’s back. The Italian melted almost immediately, loosening up her grip and instead burying her face in Peggy’s shoulder.

Peggy rubbed up and down Angie’s back with easy circles and lines. Her fingertips didn’t press or push or massage, she just drew patterns on Angie’s nightgown. Angie felt at peace for a second and then another. Finally, she felt okay. They stayed that way for a lot longer than they should have. Honestly, Peggy thought that Angie had fallen asleep that way. However, after they both realized just how long it had been, Angie moved away slightly, but stayed close.

“Why am I so attached to you, Peggy Carter?” Angie joked.

“It’s obviously because you’re in love with me.” Peggy jokingly responded with a big smile.

Angie put the back of her hand to her forehead and leaned away in exasperation, “How could you have known I was so madly in love with you, Margaret?”

Peggy snorted in response and in a couple of seconds they were both laughing. Angie leaned over in laughter, unable to hold it back. After a couple of seconds, Peggy took Angie’s hand and they both stopped laughing.

“Promise me you’ll quit worrying, Angie.” Peggy took her free hand and sandwiched Angie’s.

Peggy squeezed tightly, her heartbeat slightly faster now that she was so close to Angie. Angie sighed deeply and leaned in a little closer to Peggy. As everyone knows, the correct response was for Peggy to lean back away but she was steady in her posture. Angie squinted at Peggy for a second.

“Gosh, you can breathe, you know?” Angie chuckled, rocking back away from Peggy, “I was just making sure you were telling the truth.”

“And?”

“I’ll promise to quit worrying if you promise to try and not get hurt.” Angie held up her fist with just her pinky extended, “Pinky swear”

Peggy laughed and crossed pinkies with Angie, “Pinky swear.”

* * *

“Carter!” Jack Thompson barked.

“Thompson?” Peggy grumbled as she picked her head up out of the file. 

“Your dreams are about to come true.” He stopped in front of his desk and dropped a file on top of the one she had open, “Undercover work starts now. Your alias, his information. He’s going to be at the stork club in two hours. Can I count on you?”

“What exactly do you want to know about him? And in what capacity should I befriend him?” Peggy flipped through the pages and scanned them as quickly as possible.

“He claims to have created multiple chemical weapons. I need to know if they’re here in New York. Anything that would give away how we can catch him on this.” Jack smiled, “And as for befriending him, there’s a reason you’re assigned to this case, Carter.”

“I’ve heard that’s not too far from your own field work, Thompson.” Peggy retorted.

A wave of stifled laughs and snorts rolled across the room and Jack twitched uneasily.

“That’s ‘sir’ to you.” He scoffed as he fixed his suit jacket and walked off.

“Yes, sir.” Peggy mocked under her breath.

She read over the dossier as quickly as possible. James Roland: An American who made leaps and bounds in the medical fields before turning to chemistry and all but disappearing off the face of the planet. Until now. This could potentially be a very volatile situation she was getting herself into. As usual, one wrong move with a contact like this could potentially ruin the entire case and put her life in danger. She shoved the packets together again before dashing off to get ready.

* * *

Men were abnormally predictable.

Well, that was a bad statement. Not all of any group can be one specific thing. All men are men and that’s about it. But most men, at least to Peggy, were very predictable.

Her she was, at a place she was supposed to have danced with Steve at many Sundays ago.

This assignment seemed unnecessarily sexist to her. It was vaguely worded and put out on paper to say between the lines “seduce him, but if anything goes badly, it can’t be brought back on us.” And Peggy was far from happy about it.

She sauntered over to the bar, instantly identifying her target. She ordered a drink further down and started to survey the scene. There were quite a few people here so it wasn’t going to be easy to get much accomplished. Her plan of attack was long run. She was planning on just making a good first impression so she could bump into him later on this week. This hopefully would arouse less suspicion.

She grabbed her drink and danced her way past him in an attempt to catch any part of his conversation with the other man at the bar.

“I don’t think it’s safe to sell.” James Roland stated. 

His hair was short and dark. He was maybe 31. Boy genius and all, he and Howard could really have a rousing discussion.

“It’s now or never, James.” The other man chided.

They were on a first name basis. Friends maybe? Peggy watched as they argued lower under their breath for a bit, but couldn’t catch much more. Eventually the other man got up and left. Peggy immediately took this opportunity. 

She braced herself against the bar and expertly “pretended” to drop her drink. It clattered to the ground at James’ feet and he smiled at her.

“Need help, ma’am?”

“I definitely could.” Peggy answered.

She started to chat him up, asking all of the important questions.

“Are you a New Yorker?” She asked

“No, I’m from out of town on business.”

“Oh, a business man. Gotta love a business man. I’m from out of town too.”

“Really? And what are you doing still talking to me?”

She put her hand against his chest and fixed his tie.

“You tell me.” She smiled.

* * *

And … no sign of Peggy again.

Angie rolled her eyes.

It wasn’t uncommon for Peggy to not show up to dinner or even later in the evening. Occasionally she would call Angie the next day and apologize and promise to come home that night. Angie was a worrier though. She was empathetic and outgoing. She needed people around and Peggy was an excellent listener.

She liked a lot about Peggy. So many things. But it really bites when Peggy doesn’t tell her what’s going on. She couldn’t shake that nightmare. Her worries started to kick in. What if Peggy wasn’t okay?

Angie was startled when she heard the phone ring, but quickly answered it.

“Angie Martinelli.” She answered

“Hey, Ang, it’s Gloria.”

“Gloria! How are you?”

“Having the time of my life. Are you and Peggy busy tonight?”

“Well Peggy’s not here, but no I’ve got nothing going on.”

“Sad the mistress is gone?”

“Gloria.”

“Alright, some of the girls were going to go dancing. Just for fun. Interested?”

“Absolutely. Where at?”

“The stork club.”

“See you soon, glo!”


	3. Chapter 3

The jazz scene really flourished in the 1940’s, especially in New York. Bars were the place that many musicians got their first audience and the band was always accommodating because of that.

This night was no different, the band was unknown but wanted to please. Their instruments flashed in the darkness and the bodies dancing to various routines on the floor kept the entire space moving fluidly.

Angie was ecstatic. She loved dancing. Between her and Peggy she was most certainly the extrovert. She loved being out with people and was the one who forced Peggy to have fun most of the time. She shook her head. She needed to stop thinking about Peggy. She needed to focus on forgetting about her worries and more specifically that nightmare. She moved awkwardly at first since Gloria and friends were already scoping out the well-suited men.

Angie was scanning across the crowd, reaching for input on the conversation. She did land on one man, a bit older, at the bar, who looked fairly attractive. She tapped Gloria’s shoulder to point him out, but he leaned to the side and revealed somebody talking to him.

“Peggy?” Angie’s jaw dropped.

“What are you talking about, Angie?” Gloria responded.

Gloria followed her gaze to the women.

“Is that Peggy?” Angie doubted out loud.

Gloria shook her head, “Her hair is way different and Peggy would never dress like that.”

Angie squinted a little more, unable to take her eyes off of the woman, “But it’s uncanny.”

Gloria slapped Angie on the back and shook her out of her trance.

“Stop thinking about your crush on Peggy and start thinking about your crush on that cute fellow checking you out.” Gloria pointed to a man across the way.

He was in a decently fitted suit and when they made eye contact, he cut his eyes back to his other friends who were chatting idly and leaning against the wall.

“I dunno, Glo.” Angie bit her lip thoughtfully.

She was awfully spooked today and didn’t really feel up to flirting with someone. Or dancing. Or doing anything. Except worrying about Peggy because of a stupid dream.

“Angie.” Gloria put her hands on her hips and faced her fully, “Go dance with that man.”

Angie rolled her eyes, “You don’t have to be so abrasive.”

They both laughed and Angie felt a burst in confidence as she walked over towards where all of them were standing. One of his pals noticed her first and quickly talked the other friend into following him to the bar so Angie wouldn’t be approaching all three of them.

“Hi.” The guy said.

“Nice opener.” Angie giggled.

“I’m David.” He stuttered anxiously.

“Hi, David.” Angie greeted with her cutest smile, “Are you going to ask me to dance?”

“Oh! Of course! Do you want to dance … ?” He trailed off expectantly.

Well, he wasn’t too bad looking, Angie thought.

“My name’s Angie” She put her hand out.

He took it and they headed towards the dance floor. As an aspiring Broadway actress, the usual routines were no match for her and she may as well have been leading him in the end. This left her mind to wander, and she kept glancing at that woman at the bar. It just felt like Peggy. Her face was the same even if the hair and other things were different.

What was she doing with this man? She watched the woman reach out and start to fix the man’s tie and lean over. She was basically all over this guy that Angie had never seen or heard about before in her life. It didn’t take long for Angie’s smile to phase into an angry grimace. She couldn’t help but be royally pissed off that Peggy didn’t tell her anything. She was spending all night with some guy she had never even heard of before.

“I’m sorry, David, but I really have to go.” Angie apologized.

She pulled away from him and he gave her a sad smile and a thank you She was glad he didn’t have the guts to ask for the number to her house or anything because she really just wanted to go lay in a dark room and feel sorry for herself. As she made her way off the dance floor, she glanced back towards the woman and couldn’t shake the idea that it was Peggy. She was certain of it.

Angie stormed out of the club past Gloria and her friends. Once she was outside she hailed a cab.

* * *

Peggy sat on the side of her bed and sighed in relief once she wiped the last of her make-up away. Tonight had gone surprisingly well according to her assignment, but she felt awful. She never called Angie and she saw Gloria at the club. She assumed Gloria hadn’t recognized her with the wig, make-up and clothing, but it was still unsettling.

She had been quiet coming in so she wouldn’t wake up Angie and tomorrow is Saturday, so neither of them had work. Peggy knew she wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight, so she just got up and headed across the hall to the stairs. She descended into the lower level. When she got into the kitchen she was surprised to see Angie seated at the dining room table staring into a half filled glass of wine.

“Angie?” Peggy called softly, in case she hadn’t heard her coming.

“You’re back late.” Angie stated calmly.

Angie played with he bottom of the wine glass and didn’t bother to look at Peggy.

“I’m sorry, Angie I-“

“Peggy, I really don’t care.” Angie slid the glass away from her.

“Are you drunk?”

Angie gritted her teeth, “No, I had half a glass of wine because I couldn’t get myself to stop thinking.”

Peggy stayed at the door, wary of getting closer to Angie. The hostility in her voice set Peggy on edge almost instantly. She could see Angie thrumming her fingers on the table anxiously.

“Thinking about what?” Peggy’s voice was clear and steady.

“You. That you never called. That guy you were with tonight. That I can’t even stand near you without you freaking out anymore.” Angie ranted.

Angie stood up suddenly, pushing the table enough to tip the wine glass over and off the edge. It shattered on the tiled floor of the kitchen. Peggy immediately walked towards it to go clean, but Angie snatched the sleeve of her robe.

“Angie I-“

“Please, Peggy. It’s glass, it’s already broken.”

Angie yanked Peggy close to her and grabbed her with both hands now. She could feel Angie shaking.

Angie flicked her eyes down to Peggy’s shoes, “Just tell me. Who was that guy you were with?”

Peggy stayed very still. Her mind was whizzing at ten times the speed it normally does and her body was trying to stay as calm as possible. How did Angie know she was with a guy? Undercover? Had she already blown her cover?

“He’s a friend.” Peggy lied.

“Oh.” Angie rolled her eyes with such intensity. She began a charade of fixing Peggy’s tie and getting closer, “So this is what you do to your friends.”

Peggy stammered a response, but when Angie’s Italian blood starts to boil, there’s really no stopping her. She ran her hands down Peggy’s sides and made some mocking giggles and tossed her hair side to side.

“Angie.” Peggy said.

Her brain wasn’t processing things right now.

“Is this what you do to a friend?” Angie moved unbearably closer, running hands across her shoulders and arms.

With the sudden lack of personal space, Peggy’s brain recited the events of her dream from nights before. Everything racing so quickly out of her control.

“This is a dream.” Peggy breathed; reassuring herself that everything that was happening was in her control.

“Is this what you do to a friend?”

Peggy really didn’t know it was happening until it was half way finished. Angie’s lip was caught between her own and she was backed against the wall of the kitchen. Angie’s arms slung behind her neck and there was anger in how forceful she was with it. Peggy pulled away only to take Angie’s lips again. She was growing increasingly certain that this wasn’t a dream. Increasingly aware that she could have stopped this long ago. The tension in Peggy’s stomach skyrocketed. She was so much stronger than Angie, she could push her away, but she didn’t.

Angie was the one to pull back for good.

“Is that what you do to a friend?” Angie accused breathlessly.

Angie’s eyes were shut, her whole body was trembling and she was clutching Peggy’s shoulders as tightly as her grip would allow. Peggy, however was staring at her wide eyed and speechless.

“It is now.” Peggy whispered.

“I just took this all to hell in a hand basket, didn’t I?” Angie whispered back.

“Darling … “ Peggy reached out and cupped Angie’s face as gently as possible.

Angie started to laugh and cry at the same time, “You can’t tell me about the guy, can you?”

Peggy gave her a sad smile and nodded, tears threatening to get past her expertly trained barriers as well. Angie hesitantly leaned forward, so Peggy drew her in and hugged her tightly while she cried. Angie was the emotional one, sure, but that didn’t mean that Peggy wasn’t focusing all of her energy on not breaking down as well.

“There’s really no need to cry.” Peggy said softly.

“There’s wine on the floor and I’m Italian. There’s so many reasons to cry.”

They both chuckled through some sobs.

“Angie I’ve always dreamt of getting put on assignments. This is so important to me, but you’re … invaluable to me.” Peggy turned into the side of Angie’s head and buried her face in the girl’s hair.

Angie nodded into her shoulder but didn’t make any audible responses.

“I keep having dreams that you’re … “ Peggy stopped herself, “You should sleep.”

Angie nodded. She took Peggy’s hand and started towards the staircase. Peggy reluctantly pulled against her, but Angie’s face told her she wouldn’t be going back to the kitchen.

“I’ll just ask Jarvis to handle it.” Peggy nodded.

Angie led her up to her bedroom and inside.

“Do you need anything else?” Peggy left go and started to turn towards the door.

“No.” Angie’s voice cracked, “Stay. Please. Just for tonight."

Peggy swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded wordlessly. Just for tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

“Late.” Howard stated as Peggy walked into his lab (well, one of his labs).

“My morning ran over.” Peggy responded.

“Who’s the lucky guy?” Howard smirked and pulled the goggles off his head.

Peggy rolled her eyes, not even gracing him with a response. He stepped away from the machine and walked towards Peggy. She reached into her bag and retrieved a vial from one of the inside pockets. He quickly exchanged his current set of gloves for a new pair before gently taking the vial from Peggy.

“Where did you get this?” He asked.

Howard quickly made a sample slide out of the vial by dropping some onto the glass.

“Men don’t really care where your hands are when you’re kissing them.” Peggy sighed, “Can you tell me what it is?”

“I was hoping you could give me a direction to look in.” Howard said, “Cause this stuff looks pretty nasty.”

“He works with chemical weapons. I’m not well versed.”

“Fortunately for you, I am.” Howard stopped, “You’re saying he had this on him?”

Peggy nodded. Howard pulled back from the microscope shaking his head. He grabbed the slide with great precision and dumped it into a small, clear bag. He then held it up with a frown.

“Howard?” Peggy raised her eyebrows in confusion.

“This is dimethylmercury. It’s a synthesized compound a couple of scientists stumbled upon about 75 years ago.” Howard studied it more carefully and turned it slightly, “It’s poison. Very lethal poison. And this here is a slightly augmented type of it. I’m not sure what they’ve changed, but I know.”

Peggy nodded again, following his train of thought, “What all do you know about it?”

Howard turned and took the sample to a box and placed it inside along with the vial. He made sure to close it very tightly before continuing, “See, I don’t know that much. I could hit the books and get back to you on how the first trials with it went, but I can’t help you out right now.”

Peggy shook her head, “I’ve planned to run into him later today.”

“Peggy, be careful. Nobody toying with this stuff is a swell guy.” Howard warned.

“I think I can handle it.” She smiled.

He shook his head. He believed her for sure, but he wasn’t going to not be worried about it.

* * *

Angie opened her eyes when she heard the door swing open and she blinked a few times to get her vision to work. She sat up from the couch and saw Peggy wave at her from the doorway of their home. She glanced at the clock in the corner of the room and was relieved to see she had only been asleep for maybe thirty minutes.

Peggy walked towards her with a telltale fake smile.

“Peggy Carter, don’t get any closer to me unless you’re going to spill the beans!” Angie commanded with a giggle.

Peggy stopped in her tracks and bit her lip, “Beans? What beans?”

She feigned looking around the room for beans and Angie rolled her eyes.

“Come on, out with it.” Angie chided.

“Okay, I have to be out on assignment tonight but I’ll be back before midnight.” 

Peggy stepped closer, but Angie put her hand out.

“Can I wait up for you?” She asked.

Peggy made a puzzled look and pursed her lips together, “Would you want to?”

Angie laughed and all but leapt from the couch to where Peggy was standing to hug her.

“Of course I want to wait up for you.”

Peggy struggled to find balance with the sudden amount of weight that was on her now and stumbled backwards.

“That’s great!” Peggy grunted, forcing herself to stay upright.

“You better be back before 12 then.”

“Or my car will turn back into a pumpkin and Jarvis will become a rat again?” She joked.

Angie snickered, “Yes and you’ll get no prince.”

Peggy thoughtlessly closed the distance between them and kissed Angie. They both got lost for a few seconds before Peggy suddenly made a muddled noise and slipped away.

“Is that okay?” She asked.

“I think so. Yes.” Angie answered shakily.

Peggy smiled gently, she put her lips against Angie's forehead and kissed her again.

"Promise me you won't get hurt tonight."

Peggy was hit with the reminder that she was potentially getting herself into a very dangerous situation in light of what Howard told her earlier. She clenched her teeth together in slight frustration. Does she tell the truth?

"I promise." Peggy looked away, "Don't let that nightmare get to you."

Angie took her arms under Peggy’s and around her waist. Peggy accordingly took Angie’s biceps in her hands and squeezed lovingly.

“Nothing is a nightmare around you, English.” Angie winked

“You’re unbelievable.” Peggy chuckled, “I really do have to go now. Midnight?”

“Midnight.” Angie nodded.

* * *

Midnight. Peggy thought. Midnight was an hour and a half away. Jarvis was two blocks away. She had run into James Roland as planned beforehand since the SSR had been watching his itinerary very closely. They chatted for a bit until he invited her to dinner. Dinner had been fine, although Peggy had started receiving some weird confounding signals from him. 

He was acting different than that night at the bar. His body language was starkly different than his verbal signals and he would start to sweat every time she asked a question about work. This couldn’t have been a miscalculation of her part, she had never been more careful in her life. Then, before the meal was even over he invited her to go see where he worked.

He originally told her he worked in the legal department for a lab that came up empty when she asked around about it. So she was surprised when they showed up at an actual lab. She told him she had to make a phone call to tell her room mate she would be late, but instead called Jarvis to give her the location.

When she joined James inside, she noticed how dimly lit the office area was. James started talking about the work they did there as they walked. Peggy’s eyes flicked around. This place was not up to date and had sparse furnishings. Most of what was there looked older or broken. He came to a door that was labeled “Chemical Laboratory” and merely pushed open the door to get inside.

Something was terribly off here.

She stopped immediately and hesitated; still fitting the character she had devised for herself.

“Jean, don’t be scared, this stuff is really interesting.” He implored.

“Interesting how?” She asked, slowly starting to move again.

“Well I might have lied to you about what I do.” He smiled.

He held the door open for her. She stepped inside and realized that this wasn’t a lab, but just an empty hall. Nothing here had been touched in years. She spun around to see him with the door shut and a finger to his mouth.

“Don’t scream.” He whispered.

Peggy stayed calm, his actions were all of a sudden matching his verbals and he looked very scared. His fingers were shaking and in the light she could see that it was taking a lot for him to keep himself standing.

“You have to help me, Agent.” He whispered.

“What are you talking about? Agent?”

“Please!” He pleaded, “I know you work for the SSR, they told me. I need your help. I don’t have much time.”

Peggy cut her loses and dropped the act, “Okay. Why should I trust you?”

“Because I’m dying.”

Peggy swallowed the lump in her throat. She looked him up and down. He was sick. She knew that. He was shaky and sweating. Why didn’t she notice earlier?

“From what?” She questioned

“From the stuff you took from me. Or I’m assuming you took it, I don’t misplace things often.” He fixed his tie with those trembling hands, “They don’t want it weaponized. They want it to work faster. This stuff – it takes eight months to kill you. They want less. I made that possible. The sample you took from me was almost all I managed to make. All this has to do is took your skin. Just a drop. And you’re timer starts ticking.”

“So you aren’t going to be able to deliver to them?” 

“I never planned on it. That’s why I built in a fail safe.” He informed her, “I swallowed some when I first made the original dimethylmercury. I lost track, but I’ll be in a coma in days.”

Peggy couldn’t shake that this was all a rouse, “Where is the rest?”

He reached into his coat and pulled out a vial that was the same size as the one she had taken from him originally. “I’m going to destroy it and you’re going to destroy what you have. You don’t know what they want to do. They forced me.”

“Please tell me!” Peggy stepped towards him, but he stumbled back into the wall.

He was trembling terribly and had a death grip on the vial. With a split second of thought, Peggy reached out to snatch it from him, but he squeezed it so hard that he crushed the vial in his hand. The contents splashed out from between his fingers and the glass cut into his skin. After a moment he fell to the ground and started whimpering.

“James.” Peggy dropped to the floor to roll him over, “How fast does it work now? Who are the people that coerced you into doing this?”

He stammered for words, but she could tell his functions were not all there, “Faster.”

“How much? James, I need to know.”

“M-maybe a week or two. I don’t know. They haven’t gotten any from me to test it.”

“They.” Peggy repeated, “They?”

James incoherently babbled for a little while longer, but it was no use, he was dropping out of consciousness. Peggy grabbed her bag and ran outside of the building. She stopped at the first payphone she could and dialed for an ambulance. She hung up the phone after giving them an address and made a beeline for Jarvis.

“How was the date?” Jarvis greeted her.

Peggy shook her head, “I need to see Howard.”

“How urgently? Can it wait until tomorrow?” Jarvis shifted the car into gear and began to drive.

“Absolutely not, Mr. Jarvis. I need to see him now.”

He nodded and applied more pressure to the gas. They started off towards wherever Mr. Stark had turned in for the night and Peggy began to relax her nerves. She rubbed her hands together and started fixing her coat. But her fingers stopped when it rubbed across a wet spot on her coat.

Her heart quite literally skipped a beat when she felt the dampness.

“Jarvis.” She said calmly, “Can you pick up the pace?”


	5. Chapter 5

“Did it touch your skin directly?” Howard inquired.

Peggy twitched in frustration, “You’ve asked me this before. I don’t recall it directly, but he smashed it in his hand and splattered.”

Howard was shaking his head and looking down at the floor. Peggy took a shaky breath and fixed her vision on Jarvis.

“What time is it?” She asked him

“Far past my bed time.” He paused, noticing the lack of humor in Peggy’s eyes, “Which is exactly 11:30.”

She nodded and stared at the coat laying on the lab table. She never felt anything wet on her skin but she wasn’t exactly devoting her attention to that at the time.

“Just tell me everything you know and we’ll reconvene tomorrow.” She proposed in a defeated tone.

“Well mid way through the last century some scientists stumbled upon it and made some for testing. I guess a little while after that the lead scientist fell into a coma.” Howard informed her.

“Did he ever wake up?”

“Yeah, to scream furiously before passing out again. This is nasty stuff. His assistant who spilled some on his glove got symptoms pretty soon after the lead scientist died.”

Peggy put her head back pensively and looked up at the ceiling of his lab. She shut her eyes for just a minute trying to contemplate what this all meant. They had no idea how fast this formula worked, so if she was infected, she had no timeline.

“I think it’s safe to say you should go to the hospital in any case.” Jarvis chimed in.

Peggy shook her head, “With as little as we know, I’m not sure there’s anything they can do.”

“So you’re just going to go home and pray for the best?” Jarvis shook his head in confusion.

“Jarvis I do wish you would stop telling me what to do.” Peggy snapped.

The room adopted a swift silence. Howard glanced between the two of them. It wasn’t often that Peggy snapped. Most of the time when she raised her voice it was to be heard or to make her sound more commanding. She rarely “snapped.”

“It’s your call.” Howard said after a while.

“What are the symptoms?” Peggy responded coolly.

“It’ll probably start like your average menstrual cycle: moody, irritable, and emotional. According to the scientists there’ll be twitching, weakness, tremors, headaches, loss of coordination, impairment, you’ll feel it coming.”

Peggy nodded, “Mr. Jarvis, can you take me home? I promised Angie I’d be back before midnight.”

Jarvis nodded, “Right away.”

* * *

“Well if it isn’t the great Peggy Carter.” Angie called from the doorway, “And only seventeen minutes late.”

Peggy stepped out of Jarvis’ car and met eyes with Angie. Angie had her hands on her hips and her head cocked in a disapproving manner. But the corner of her mouth was flickering the slightest little smile and it gave Peggy the confidence she needed to get out of the car. Jarvis coughed from behind her.

“I’m aware that you told me to stop giving you advice, but I’m inclined to say one more thing.” He paused, “I think you should consider telling Miss Martinelli.”

Peggy nodded, “Thank you.”

She left the car and made her way over to where Angie was standing at the entrance. Jarvis sped off, probably eager to make it home and by the time Peggy had reached the waitress he was nowhere in sight.

Peggy came to stand intentionally close to Angie, smiling the biggest smile she could muster.

“You’re late. You’re late. For a very important date.” Angie wiggled her finger and replied with a smile twice as dazzling.

“Not many dates happen at midnight, Mr. Rabbit.”

Angie crossed her arms, “Well with a schedule like yours it’s hard to have a date any other time.”

Peggy looked down, “Fair point. Are we going to have our date out here in the cold?”

Angie rolled her eyes and took Peggy’s hand so she could yank her inside. She swung the door shut behind her and much to Peggy’s surprise pushed the English woman back against the shut door.

“We didn’t make it very far.” Peggy laughed.

“Pegs, if it’s so cold outside, why don’t you have your coat on?”

“I – ah” Peggy struggled to find words, “I spilled something on it and left it at the office.”

That most certainly wasn’t a lie.

Angie backed up a couple steps and started laughing, “For a trained operative, you’re kinda clumsy.”

“For somebody who worked eight hours, you’re very energetic.”

Angie stopped at the comment. She reached out and took the fabric of Peggy’s sleeve gently. Her bright bubbly smile was replaced with a contemplative one, “Sometimes I really miss you at work or when you’re gone.”

Peggy looked into Angie’s thoughtful eyes and felt a vulnerability in them. She opened her mouth to say something and shut it again. What could she say? Oh yes I do love the sentiment but there’s a chance I might be gone permanently within the next few weeks. Sorry if this causes inconvenience. Angie closed the distance between them once again.

They kissed. And this time there was reality to it. They didn’t have to be anywhere. They already said it was okay. This wasn’t a surprise kiss burned out of exhaustion from ignoring the desire. This was an honest kiss that lasted just as long as they both wanted. Fingers were grappling fabric in a slow sort of dance. They just wanted leverage. They wanted to touch each other. They wanted to be unbearably closer.

Angie lead. One of her hands was against the back of the other girl’s neck and encouraging her to do more. Peggy was the one with inhibitions. She was scared, but she was at peace.

After a moment, the parted and Angie was as bright as she had been.

“Peggy I keep having dreams about you.” Angie admitted, “Like this.”

Peggy chuckled, “So you’ve thought about this?”

“Thought about. Dreamt about. I mean you’re Peggy Carter, who doesn’t think about that kinda stuff when you’re involved?” Angie gave her a raised eyebrow and moved her hands to Peggy’s shoulders.

“Are you sure this is going to end up like your dreams?” Peggy tagged.

“You, miss, are being a tease.” Angie pulled away a pressed an accusing finger into Peggy’s chest.

“Alright. That’s fair.” Peggy put her hands up in mock forfeit, “I will say that the whole reason I was acting strange was because of a dream as well.”

“Is that so?” Angie smirked, “Naughty dreams again, Carter?”

Peggy smacked Angie on the arm with a laugh, “Keep at that and last night will be the last time we share a bed.”

Angie halted, “Did you plan on there being more than one night?”

“I was planning for tonight as well, but since you had to go and –“

Peggy was cut off by Angie slapping a hand over her mouth.

“Nope! I’m sorry and you already said it so let’s go!”

Angie grabbed Peggy’s arm again. She had quite the habit of lugging Peggy everywhere she wanted the woman to be. She pulled her up the stairs and into her bedroom.

“Anything else you want to confess?” Angie joked as she threw herself onto the bed.

Peggy thought for a second before answering, “Not unless needing to take off this make-up is a confession.”

“Well, hurry up!” Angie shooed her away to the bathroom.

* * *

Peggy figured she would be restless and anxious all night. She thought maybe she wouldn’t sleep, but she was drawn into her exhaust quickly. She felt something light and feathery rouse her out of it. She blinked against the dim sunlight and felt Angie’s arm wrap across her stomach as she stirred.

“Mm. Angie?” Peggy groaned.

“Yeah, sorry, we can go back to sleep.” Angie muttered.

Angie drew her head into Peggy’s shoulder and saddled up against her side. She hummed a sound of happiness against Peggy’s skin and settled in again.

“Is this anything like your dream?” Peggy whispered.

“It’s better.” Angie smiled, “I don’t think we have to talk about my dreams anymore. They’re not dreams anymore.”

“They’re reality?”

“They’re reality.”

A grin struck Peggy’s face like a bolt of lightning. Angie almost felt the smile and squeezed Peggy even closer.

“I hope I never lose you, Peggy.” Angie muttered before drifting back to sleep.

Peggy's smile disappeared in a heart beat when she heard that. She didn't fall back to sleep again.


	6. Chapter 6

“Why didn’t you come to me sooner, Carter?” Thompson growled.

Peggy had everyone on her heels the minute she walked into the office. She walked straight into Thompson’s office and sat down. She had prepared herself for the worst. She was always ready.

“I sent a telegram.” She stated.

“Yeah I got that.” He dropped a paper with sloppy handwriting on the desk, “You should have come in.”

“I believe it was my prerogative to take time for myself.” She stared him down.

“What kind of medical care do you need?” He crossed his arms and laid back against the wall, “We can handle the rest of the investigation off what you told us.”

Peggy gritted her teeth, “I don’t need anything. I’m also quite capable of helping you complete this investigation.”

He shook his head and dimissed her, “I don’t want you in this office until we know you’re not dying.”

The words hit Peggy with more severity than she expected. She was a strong willed individual, but hearing Jack Thompson express concern, in however underwhelming of a way that was, made her rethink her current situation. Peggy didn’t respond and Thompson stood there for a minute before shaking his head and exiting.

Peggy collected herself and followed. She stopped briefly at the doorway when she saw Sousa standing there awkwardly.

“Daniel.”

“I won’t be seeing you for a bit will I?” He looked away.

“I will try my best to return.” Peggy affirmed.

“Just – Can you give me a call if you won’t?”

Peggy started walking again pausing only to put her hand on his shoulder, “Only if I’m sure.”

He nodded and tried not to watch as she walked away.

* * *

Angie was absolutely on her game today. Even the asshole customers weren’t getting to her. She was bouncing from here to there – no, she was floating. She didn’t even feel like she was walking, she was so happy. She would stop every now and then after a rush of customers to think. She would consider the levity of everything and maybe for a second she would wonder if it was real.

She came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the situation making her feel this way.

It was that kiss.

Peggy Carter had the lips of an angel and they were dangerous. When she kissed her, she felt something like a rush. Something no boy on the playground ever made her feel. She felt a burst of energy and when she went to work this morning she was still feeding off of it. Maybe she’ll just ask Peggy to kiss her between shifts and doubles will go by so much faster.

“Afternoon.” Peggy greeted.

Speak of the devil.

“The usual?” Angie tried her hardest to contain her smile.

“Normally I would, but I came to walk you home.” Peggy pointed to the clock.

Much to her surprise, it was time for her to clock out, and the next shift was walking through the door as she was looking back to Peggy.

“I’ll get ready to go.”

* * *

It had just been three or four days since Peggy had been told not to return to work. Nothing had happened in particular, so she was beginning to feel ready to call and tell Thompson that she’s healthy. Jarvis came and checked on her every few hours just “out of habit” but her condition never worsened. Peggy was however becoming increasingly bored of being home. She spent most of the day reading or listening to music. She spent all of it wishing Angie would be home.

Except today of course. This morning she had quite the issue writing because her hands had been shaking. However, she was stressed and nervous and hadn’t been eating well. But that didn’t set her mind at ease.

There was a pot on the stove full of soup that was cooking. The lid was on it and neither Angie nor Peggy were particularly worried about it. Angie was sitting on the counter and Peggy was standing between her legs and leaning into her. They were giggling about one thing or another and bantering between occasional kisses.

They were really happy too. Minus the fact that Peggy was actively lying about her health and the reason she wasn’t going to work anymore. Besides that, everything was just peachy.

“Why didn’t you ever learn how to cook?” Angie asked.

“What do you mean? I’m a great chef.” Peggy put her hands on Angie’s hips and gave her a quizzical look.

“I had to help you cut an onion.” Angie stated matter-of-factly.

Peggy sighed, “I suppose it just wasn’t a skill I thought I would need. Where did you learn?”

“Like everyone else, my ma taught me.” Angie paused, “My sister tried cooking a squirrel once so I think that’s why ma always wanted me to help.”

Peggy couldn’t keep herself from laughing. She braced herself against the counter as she did so and Angie laughed along with her.

“I really do hope to meet your family one day.” Peggy nodded.

“Are you sure? They might eat you alive. You don’t know the Martinellis.” Angie rested her forearms on Peggy’s shoulders.

“I know one.” Peggy smirked, “And I really like her.”

They were interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. They rapidly took themselves out of their intimate position and Peggy darted over to check the soup on the cooktop. Angie stayed on the counter fixing her hair and dress as she shouted, “Come in!”

Jarvis came in through the door and gave them a gracious smile.

“Just coming to check in. Does anything need done?”

Angie cocked her head to the side and gave Jarvis a snide look, “You’ve been doing that an awful lot, is something wrong?”

Jarvis glanced at Peggy who shot him an evil eye.

“No, I’ve just been somewhat bored since Mr. Stark decided to vacation in France.” He covered.

“We were about to have lunch, would you want to join us?” Peggy invited.

“Ah, no thank you, I do have to get back to Anna now, but I’m sure it’s splendid. Maybe some other time.”

Jarvis quickly scurried out of the house.

Angie was suspicious. Peggy hadn’t been going to work. She gave her a flimsy excuse about getting time off after the mission, and Angie really wanted to believe her so she bought it. Peggy would take a lot of trips to the bathroom and spend time just looking at her hands. Peggy had even been working out more than usual. Angie had noticed all this with ease, but until Howard’s butler had lied so terribly, she didn’t let it all sink it.

Something was wrong and she knew it.

Angie started to grab two bowls from the cabinet and she held them out for Peggy to pour the soup into. She watched as Peggy did so and sort of followed her eyes. They sat down together at the table and slurped away for a minute of two.

“This is fantastic. We did a good job.” Peggy noted between spoonfuls.

“We? You mean me, right?” Angie chided.

“Yes. You. You make delicious soup.”

“Peggy.”

Angie was stirring her soup absent mindedly and she was looking into the broth with a sad look.

“Yes?” Peggy asked tentatively.

“Are you okay?”

Peggy stopped working on her soup and put the spoon down on her napkin. She attempted to make eye contact with Angie but the other woman wouldn’t meet her gaze.

“Why do you ask?”

“Peggy.” Angie tilted her head to the side and adopted a sad smile on her face, “I’m not stupid.”

Peggy stood up from the table and walked over to another cabinet in the kitchen. She pulled out a glass and a bottle of brandy. Angie set her spoon down as well, but just watched Peggy moved. The English woman’s hands weren’t so steady as she poured the drink. Peggy turned around and sipped at it carefully. She was formulated. She was gathering herself. She was going to tell the truth.

But it was taking forever.

“Did you get fired?” Angie guessed, “Do you have to go somewhere far away? Did you get reassigned?”

Peggy’s hand was shaking and she was forced to put the glass down to keep it from falling out of her fingers. Angie was continuing to guess away and Peggy cut her off.

“I’m dying.”

Angie’s mouth stopped moving.

That was something she hadn’t expected. She opened and shut her mouth once or twice. She blinked a few times. She started breathing again. When had she stopped. Then she stood up.

Peggy watched as Angie gathered the bowls off of the table and walked them towards the sink. She placed them inside of the sink. She stared at them for a second. Her grip on the counter was whitening her knuckles.

Peggy moved towards Angie slowly. Carefully. Gently. Angie didn’t move when Peggy put her hand on her back. Angie didn’t flinch when Peggy put her other hand over one of Angie’s that was so tightly holding the counter. Peggy forced her fingers between Angie’s and pried her hand off of the counter. Their combined hands made a short journey to Peggy’s chest.

Angie’s voice was fighting to stay calm, but it wavered with every word, “What’s happening?”

“There’s a possibility that I got a drop of an augmented neurotoxin on my skin. I could be dying. I believe I am. I didn’t tell you sooner because I didn’t want to worry you.” Peggy explained.

“Jesus, Peggy.” Angie pulled herself away from the counter and to face Peggy, “Dying?! That wasn’t something I needed to know?!”

Angie turned her hand into a fist and smacked it against Peggy’s chest.

“I can’t believe you.” Angie shoved Peggy until they were into the living room.

Angie continued to hassle and yell at Peggy. She pushed her around a few more times. Her intent wasn’t to hurt Peggy. No, she could never hurt Peggy. Her intent was to work out her sudden feelings out loud until she decided what she wanted to do. She eventually just dragged Peggy into the bedroom and pinned her to a wall.

“Are you aware that I love you?” Angie asked, her voice a little more steady and a little more angry now.

Peggy took the chance with a joke, “Isn’t it a little soon for that?”

Angie actually laughed, “I’ve loved you for a long time. I’m just sure of it now.”

Angie’s fingers weren’t trying to shove Peggy anymore. They were just wandering now. They were traveling across Peggy’s blouse and tugging at the buttons.

“Angie – we can talk about this.” Peggy’s breathing was heavier.

Angie leaned in and kissed her again, “We can talk about it tomorrow too …”

“Is that a good idea?”

Angie shook her head. She wasn’t crying. She was looking at Peggy with an interest and want Peggy had yet seen. She took Peggy’s sleeve and guided her over towards the bed. Angie spun her around and pushed her onto the mattress. Her intentions at this point were clear. 

She climbed on top of Peggy and gave her a look that Peggy was certain could kill a man. Peggy slipped her fingers around the back of Angie’s neck and pulled her down into a kiss.

It was better than talking, that’s for certain.


	7. Chapter 7

Peggy’s fingers didn’t feel so shaky when they were in Angie’s hair, she thought. They didn’t seem to tremble so much on the other woman’s skin and she didn’t stutter and or have trouble saying her name. Nothing about her health was in question when Angie’s lips were against her neck and the exhaustion she normally felt was cast out of her body the instant she looked into her eyes. 

Angie was lying between her legs with her head against Peggy’s chest, her back on Peggy’s stomach, and her hands grasping a magazine. Peggy had her head resting against the arm of the couch and she was primarily just supporting the rambling Italian. Her words were quick and she was telling stories in the voice of an angel. Angie would only stop talking to smack Peggy if her hands were toying with her hair too much. Angie would say that as much as she enjoys it, she had to keep it looking nice for later. 

“What’s later anyways?” Peggy would say

Angie would ignore the question and keep talking. She was flipping through the magazine while she spoke and Peggy was trying her hardest to pay attention, but she just couldn’t. She wanted to get lost in the sound of Angie’s voice not the content.

“Pegs.” Angie said after a particularly long-winded story about her first day at work.

She had told it before, Peggy knew the details very well.

“Hmm?” Peggy kept her eyes on the ceiling.

“Are you listening to me at all?” Angie sat up away from Peggy and spun around to look at her.

“Not in the least. Though I am enjoying the sound of your voice quite a bit.” Peggy sat up as well, “Maybe you shouldn’t be on Broadway, your voice would put people to sleep.”

“Mmm … Is that a compliment? I’m almost not mad at you anymore.” Angie leaned over and kissed Peggy, “Almost.”

“Drat.” Peggy smiled, pulling her back in for another one, “I thought I almost had you.”

They were kissing again and laughing, they fell back onto the couch and Peggy brought Angie close again but this time she was met with resistance.

“Wait.” Angie hesitantly retracted from Peggy, “Sorry, just give me a second.”

Peggy’s eyes filled with concern and she sat up again so she could take Angie’s hand and look her in the eyes, “Are you alright?”

“Sure, I sort of –“ Angie bit her lip, “I just remember at the worst times.”

Peggy was met with the clarity of the situation and she suddenly understood.

“Angie, darling. It’s going to be okay, I haven’t felt any symptoms for days.”

Angie was fighting back tears. This happened now and then. They would lounge around and be casually interacting; everything would be normal until it would slip back into Angie’s head that Peggy was potentially dying. Angie had chosen to ignore it at first. Especially right after Peggy told her, but too much had gone unspoken with them so they eventually had a candid discussion about it. Peggy was the one who cried during that one. She wouldn’t stop telling Angie how sorry she was that she broke a promise. 

But everything had been going well until right now.

“I know that, but it doesn’t make anything better.” Angie argued, “We can’t just pretend this isn’t happening – you said that yourself!”

Angie snatched her hand away from Peggy and casted a wounded look onto her face.

“Please don’t do this …” Peggy pleaded quietly.

“No.” Angie slid away from her on the couch, “What am I going to do when you’re gone? Every time you cough I imagine myself living here alone. I’m trying not to blow a fuse here cause I know I was the one who was caught up in us being …”

“Being?” Peggy encouraged.

“Being rationed, you know.” Angie quietly added, “Being in love. Being that I finally get Peggy fucking Carter and she’s dying.”

Peggy suddenly didn’t have any words left in her vocabulary. She had learned how much in her time on this planet and she couldn’t even remember the syntax of a basic English sentence. Sometimes this happens with Angie. She’ll do something that scoops all of the intelligence right out of her brain. Angie was standing up now and she was looking very angry. Something about that shut down every pathway in her mind.

“Are you going to say something?” She asked

“I’m trying.” Peggy managed.

“I’ve got time.” Angie crossed her arms and stared Peggy down.

“I just don’t understand what you’re busting my chops about.” Peggy stated clearly.

“Really?” Angie looked up at the ceiling and gritted her teeth, “Peggy what happens if you die? Do you have a plan? If things get worse do I take you to a hospital? Do you even have a next of kin?”

“That’s not exactly your place to be asking.” Peggy was tense as the words flooded back into her head.

Except the only words that seemed to come back to her were the angry ones.

“Who else do you have, Peggy?”

“I don’t know!” Peggy shouted, “And you’re not helping by getting cock-eyed on me once a day. You’re a time bomb of anxiety.”

“Oh yes, my apologies for having a lot going on. I definitely don’t have to prep for auditions or work or do anything of those things that stress me out. Silly me.” Angie’s teeth were clenched at this point.

Peggy stood up from the couch to level their eyes and continued, “We both have a lot going on and getting upset isn’t going to fix it.”

“Doing nothing won’t either.” Angie fired back.

“You’re unreasonable!” Peggy threw her hands up in the air and turned away from her, “I’m not doing “nothing”. Making plans for my potential death isn’t going to help me with the things I actually need to do.”

“Oh, and it’s all about you, English. I’m getting strung along like a call-girl here.” Angie shouted.

Peggy’s voice dropped, “I wish you were a bloody call-girl. You would talk a lot less.”

Angie took that comment like a brick to the chest. It knocked the spirit right out of her. 

Peggy recoiled into herself. She felt guilty and angry all at once. Before she knew it, her feet were clicking across the hardwood and she was at the door.

When she did know what was happening, she was outside. She felt her body crumple like a sheet of paper to be tossed into the trash. She sat down on the edge of the sidewalk. Her head hung between her hands and she was crying now. And she didn’t try to wipe them away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry


	8. Chapter 8

Don’t freak out, Peggy thought.

Fighting wasn’t abnormal for them in the least. In fact it was fairly common. Little scuffles were normal when you’re living with someone, but they both handled them in a reasonable manner. Angie was a bit easy to offend, a little hot-headed so that made everything difficult. Peggy didn’t help by being prideful and stubborn. She didn’t ever want to take guilt.

Things had been tense since they had spoken about the poisoning. Neither of them could deny that they felt something leading up to the argument.

But how exactly can she not take guilt this time? Looking back on everything she felt as though she was in the wrong from Angie’s first accusation to her last comment. It felt dreadful the thing she had said.

There was validity to the argument. None of which made it feel any better at the bottom of her stomach. 

She kept walking until she heard a voice.

“Miss Carter?” Jarvis called.

When Peggy looked up she noticed that she had walked directly to Howard’s estate. Jarvis was waving at her from the garden with a broad smile.

“Have you come by for tea?” He frowned, “I do wish you would have phoned ahead so I could be more prepared.”

“No I was just out for a walk. Do you mind if I just sit down?” Peggy shouted back.

Jarvis nodded. He disappeared for a few minutes before opening the door to the home and gestured her inside. A woman in the front door waved to Peggy as she walked into the sitting room. She quickly collapsed on the couch and sighed.

“Rough day?” Howard asked.

He appeared from a doorway in a grease-covered apron with goggles on his forehead.

“You have no idea.” Peggy answered.

“Do you know that woman?” Howard asked as he subtly pointed to her.

“No, don’t you?"

Jarvis rolled his eyes, “She’s your secretary, Mr. Stark.”

“Ah.” Howard turned on his heel and smiled to her, “Lovely lady, wish I knew her name.”

"You don't know your own assistant's name? You always tell me how much you care for the women in your life."

Howard turned a haughty look to her, "I've just had trouble keeping a good assistant lately. They come and go so often with the boys getting back from the war."

Peggy shrugged.

"Do you need something by the way?" Howard asked.

Peggy shook her head, “Leave from my home is all.”

“Cat fight?”

“Something like that.”

“Come to drink it off with the boys?” He reached for a bottle of liquor and started to pour some glasses.

“That couldn’t hurt.” Peggy sat up and accepted a drink he offered her, “I just know the longer I wait, the more upset she'll be with me.”

Howard nodded, “Well that’s cause she’s a woman.”

Peggy shook her head at the oddly sexist remark, “And I’m not?”

Howard shook his head, “You aren’t a woman like she’s a woman.”

Peggy narrowed her eyes and stared him down. Taking a silent dare Howard started to speak again.

“She’s the kind of broad that – you know, you can’t let her stay angry.”

“First and foremost, she is brilliant human being not a broad of any sort.” Peggy snarled, “And secondly, you’re much better at drinking than you are at talking.”

Howard shrugged and took the rest of his drink in one go. Peggy watched with a smile on her face. He pulled the glass away from his face and held his arms out expectantly.

“I’m not impressed.” Peggy leaned back on the couch and started to drink as well.

“That is a challenge I will accept.” Howard scooped up the bottle and plopped himself down on the couch next to her with it, “Cheers!”

* * *

Peggy was laying in a nearly drunk haze. Actually, definitely drunk haze at this point. The room felt bigger, she was laughing a little more. Howard’s jokes even seemed funny. It must be late because Jarvis scurried off a while earlier saying he was going to bed.

Howard was murmuring on and on about something far more complicated than Peggy could understand even sober. He kept shaking his head and saying no no no.

The bottle was empty and their glasses were as well.

“Howard.” Peggy interrupted his mumbling.

His head swung to look at her. They were both still laying on the couch in their alcohol induced comas. The night was wafting in the smells of extinguished fires and feet clattering on their way home for the night. Howard was presumably more drunk than Peggy after all the showing off he had done and subtly attempting to over-drink her in any way he could.

Peggy chuckled, “I’m probably dying.”

“Fact.” He slurred.

“And I’m fighting with this fantastic ... girl. Girl that's never let me down. Girl?” Peggy sat up with what little coordination she had.

“Let’s go!” Howard lurched off of the couch and stumbled towards the doorway, “Let’s fix this.”

"Must be fixed!" Peggy's finger shot up in the air triumphantly.

* * *

Angie was staring at her third glass of wine … Fourth maybe? She shook her head. She was sighing and the wine had only numbed her headache. For the first hour she was angry. She was glad Peggy left. She didn’t want to see those perfect red lips and those curls that were just asking to be messed up. Then the clock kept ticking and she started to miss her. She didn’t care about the comment or the fight, she just wanted to feel Peggy’s hands in her own.

It got worse until she cracked open the wine. Halfway through her second glass she started to worry about Peggy. What if she died while she was out there and Angie never got to kiss her goodbye or anything.

She heard a knock at the door and bolted out of her seat quickly. Oddly enough the only noise she heard coming from the other side of the door was laughter. It sounded like honey and tea and she knew it was Peggy.

She flung open the door to see Peggy and Howard doubled over and going on about one thing or another. Peggy looked up and snapped upright. She was testy on her feet and maybe drunker than Angie was.

“Peggy Carter reporting for duty.” She saluted Angie with a laugh.

Had this been any other night Angie might have made a joke and flirted with her. In a perfect timeline Angie would have told her to come inside for debriefing and then kissed her until they made a new shade of lipstick between them. Any other night she would have called her Sergeant Carter and grinned wickedly as they made their way up to the bedroom. Any other night and Angie would have questioned Peggy until they were both laughing so hard they couldn't breath and she would remember why she loved her. 

Tonight's not any other night.

And tonight she just gave her a smile and asked her, “Do you know what time it is?”

Howard looked at his bare wrist, “0134 hours, ma’am.”

He wasn’t exactly on time but that was a good approximation. Angie shook her head in response to his antics.

Peggy looked to straighten herself out and she spoke, “Angie I was thinking.”

“Don’t you mean drinking?”

“Angie I’m serious.”

“Oh well if you’re serious then you should come in.” She gestured inside.

Howard staggered into the living room and Peggy followed behind him. Angie closed the door with a prominent thud and then made her way there as well.

“This looks good.” Howard threw himself onto one of the couches and shut his eyes, “Don’t worry about me I’m just going to nap.”

Peggy grabbed Angie by the wrist and as best she could in her current state walked her up the stairs.

“Angie.” Peggy whispered, “I was thinking the best way to apologize would be to call myself a call-girl, but then I figured that would just bring it up again and –“

“Shut up, English. You talk too much.” Angie took her hand, “You’re also drunk.”

“So are you. Not quite the same level of drunkenness but your sobriety is lacking.”

“Still prim and proper I see. Wonder how much liquor it would take to get all that out of you.” Angie winked.

“Aren’t you angry at me in the least?”

“Of course.” Angie swallowed, “But you’re totally tipsy. You think I’m going to skip out on messing with you?”

“Is this payback?” Peggy frowned.

“No that’s tomorrow, hun.” Angie pulled her into the bedroom.

“That’s far too long to wait, you have to tell me now.” Peggy fumbled with her shirt and managed to knock herself onto the bed before getting it off.

Angie rolled her eyes, “We can cut our losses tonight.”

“Or not so much … “ Peggy pulled Angie onto the bed on top of her.

With the sudden movement, Angie crumbled and barely caught herself on top of a laughing Peggy. She glared at the Englishwoman who had deftly wandering fingers.

“Howard is downstairs.” Angie hissed.

“Doesn’t that make it more fun?” Peggy pulled up so she could kiss her.

Angie broke away, “I should have liquored you up long ago.”

“Now is just as optimal.” Peggy kissed her again.

Angie indulged this one until she started to taste the alcohol on Peggy’s tongue and then she reeled away again.

“You’ve got enough moxy to make my knees weak, but I really can’t do this right now.” Angie frowned.

“I don’t understand.” Peggy groaned.

She leaned back and shut her eyes. Angie's weight atop her moved away and she was laying beside her now.

“I want to, I would love to.” Angie bit her lip, “But we screamed at each other earlier. That stuff isn’t gone because you had a few drinks.”

“Then why am I in bed with you?” Peggy furrowed her eyebrows and made a pained look.

“Who else am I going to sleep with? Howard?.”

Angie scooted back and peeled the covers off so she could get under them.

She looked expectantly at Peggy, “Come on.”

Peggy mumbled something incoherent but managed to pull herself up. She crawled over to sit beside Angie and sort of fell against the pillow. She muttered what was hopefully a goodnight to Angie and the lights fell with the click of a lamp string.


	9. Chapter 9

“Another cup?” Angie asked.

Peggy nodded. Her fingers were slowly rubbing her temple and she was squinting at the empty cup of tea in front of her. Of all the stupid decisions in the world she could have made, getting drunk with Howard was quickly climbing the list of stupidest.

She was sitting at the table in the kitchen and Angie was running around keeping herself occupied making tea. Angie put her hand on Peggy’s back as she took the cup from under her and replaced it with a new one. Her hand rubbed her back momentarily before disappearing as she went back to the sink. It remained quiet while Angie cleaned the cup and returned it to the cupboard.

She returned to Peggy and put her hands on her shoulders. She started massaging Peggy’s back and the Englishwoman let out a shaky sigh. She took the tea cup and sipped it. Angie didn’t make tea quite as well as her but she had learned a thing or two since they moved in together.

“You’re being awfully nice to someone who called you a whore.” Peggy shrugged Angie’s hands away.

“Yeah, well I’ve heard worse.”

“From whom?”

Angie sat down at the table next to Peggy. Peggy dropped her fingers from her head and gripped the cup tightly. She stared at Angie with a serious expression.

“Nobody I’ll tell you about. I’d rather not have you hurt anyone today.” Angie smiled, “And you know damn well I can take care of myself.”

“I have a dreadful hangover and you’re taking care of me.”

“That’s how this works. We take care of ourselves. We take care of each other. Honey, have you ever been in a relationship?”

Peggy paused, “Is that was this is?”

Them waitress glanced down to hide the smile that crept up on her face, “Peggy …”

Peggy put her cup of tea down. It clicked against the table and she removed a hand from it. That hand came to Angie’s face. Peggy ran her fingers on a trail down her cheek.

“I’m sorry.” Peggy whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

Angie took the hand on her face into her own hand and squeezed it tightly.  
Peggy continued, “I’ll go to the hospital, I’ll do whatever necessary. I’m sorry.”

Angie clapped her free hand over Peggy’s mouth.

“I forgive you.” Angie said softly.

Angie’s hand came off of Peggy’s mouth slowly. It slipped down to her chin and her fingers curled around her jaw. They stared at each other for a second. Then a minute. Angie drug her companion in to meet her lips.

Angie’s hand stayed on Peggy’s chin in a loose hold. Fingers on the other hand were linking between Peggy’s fingers and pulling their joined hands towards her. They were slipping deeper and deeper into each other as the seconds ticked by.

The broke for a second and Angie hurriedly spat out the words on her mind, “You don’t have to do anything.”

Peggy kissed her again deeper this time. Angie was smiling every time they repositioned and in seconds Peggy was smiling between kisses too.

“Peggy where –“ Howard started.

Peggy and Angie yanked themselves away from each other. Angie spun around and stood up from the chair so her back was to the door. Peggy swung back to staring intently at her tea.

“I uh –“ Howard stuttered, “I am so sorry.”

Angie was fixing her hair and began walking away from the table and towards the opposite side of the kitchen. Peggy tapped at the cup in front of her anxiously. Howard started stuttering again.

“Howard.” Peggy turned to look him in the eye, “Did you need something?”

“Yeah I was wondering if –“ He was interrupted by the doorbell, “I’ll get that.”

Howard hurriedly walked away towards the lobby and entrance. Peggy got up from the table and met Angie. Much to her surprise she found Angie laughing as she looked out the window.

“What’s so funny?” Peggy asked incredulously.

“Your face.” Angie laughed, “When he walked in.”

Peggy grabbed Angie by the hips and spun her around. Angie was laughing so hard there were tears welling up in her eyes.

“I’m going to bloody kill you.” Peggy threatened.

“No need for that.” Howard yelled from the doorway, “My assistant Elise is here.”

“Elizabeth.” She corrected, “And Mr. Jarvis and I have been looking for you all morning.” 

“Which is odd because I go missing a lot and nobody ever says anything.” Howard responded.

“This actually has to do with Miss Carter.” Elizabeth smiled at Peggy.

Peggy consequently started moving towards them. Angie followed her mockingly saying “Miss Carter” just loud enough for Peggy to swat her on the arm.

“Yes?” Peggy inquired as she drew close enough to speak to them.

“Well, Howard took a sample of the chemicals on your coat since you left it at the lab.” She pulled out a sheet of paper, “He told me to give this to him once I finished looking at it.”

She handed the paper to Howard who took it cautiously and began reading. Then started laughing. Peggy felt Angie’s hand grab the fabric of her shirt.

“Howard, I swear.” Peggy gritted her teeth.

“It’s sweat. Peggy.” He stopped his laughter for a moment. “It’s sweat!”

Angie nearly screamed from behind Peggy and leapt at her. She hugged her as tightly as her arms could possibly manage. Peggy smiled when Howard hugged her as well and his assistant laughed at the awkward form the three of them had created.

When their celebratory group hug ended Howard and Elizabeth started to say goodbye. Howard had a meeting or something later on in the day Elizabeth informed him. Angie waved goodbye but stayed in the kitchen to tidy up. Peggy walked Howard and his assistant to the door but before he could leave she grabbed his sleeve.

“You’re not going to say anything, correct?” Peggy whispered to him.

“Lips. Sealed.” He assured her.

* * *

“Who knew 1952 would be such a great year.” Peggy continued, “Elizabeth is now Queen.”

“My assistant?” Howard looked up from his plate of food on the kitchen table.

“No, Elizabeth Windsor.” Peggy glanced at him across the table, “I’m ecstatic to have a queen.”

“Gee, thanks, dear. I’m glad to have you too.” Angie dropped more food on the table and sat down next to her.

“Angie this is important … “ She met eyes with the Italian girl.

Angie leaned over and whispered in her ear, “One more important name for me to make you forget, sweetie.”

Peggy blushed wildly and hid herself behind the newspaper.

“Would you two quit whispering? I feel like a third wheel here.” Howard shook his head as he ate, “Peggy you’re a lucky woman to get to eat this cooking every day.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Angie smiled as she started eating too.

Peggy pulled down the newspaper when she had put herself back together, “How long will you be … hiding out here?”

Howard shrugged, “Until my assistant finds me.”

The doorbell rang.

“You should get that.” Peggy nodded to Howard. 

He reluctantly pulled himself up from the table and slugged off to the lobby.

“So Queen Elizabeth.” Angie smirked, laying a hand on Peggy’s leg.

Peggy looked over at her with a raised eyebrow, “Indeed.”

“Does this mean you’ll take me to see England now?” Angie put on a dazzling grin.

Peggy made a dramatic sigh and pouted, “A vacation means going places that I don’t have a connection to.”

“We can make a connection there.” Angie winked.

Peggy shook her head, “No amount of flirting will make me take you to England.”

Angie turned to face Peggy and moved her arm from Peggy’s leg to her arm.

“I let you meet my family.” She craned over and pecked Peggy on the lips, “Show me England.”

Just then the phone rang. Peggy kissed her back briefly before jumping up to get the phone. While Peggy chatted tonelessly with what Angie could only assume was one of her coworkers. Peggy’s eyes cut to Angie and she smiled as she spoke on the phone. Angie rolled her eyes. She stood up and cleared the table of dishes since everyone had vacated their lovely meal for one reason or another. She dropped them in the sink and started up the water to wash them in. 

After a few more minutes, Peggy was done on the phone and she hung up. Peggy waltzed over to the sink and crossed her arms as she leaned against the counter.

"You know, this new job is a dream." Peggy told her.

"DC is a bit traffic heavy and being director means you're always stressed." Angie paused her ministrations at the sink.

"I have you for the stress."

"I forgot my primary purpose is 'stress ball'." She shrugged, "Better than call-girl I assume."

"I'm never going to live that down." Peggy looked up at the ceiling and laughed.

"You're going into the office, then?" Angie put her hip to the counter and a hand on Peggy's shoulder.

"Just for a little, darling." Peggy grinned, "I'll be back by midnight."

"You better." Angie kissed her on the cheek, "By the way. Definitely not a dream."

Peggy's grin didn't quit for a second. She kissed Angie again, "Love you."

Peggy ran off as quickly as she could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
